More fish for him, then. Lucius doesn't necessarily mind the smell, if it means a good food supply.

Her expression, though, and the mention of coming around again, catches something in his memory. Tell me you didn't get eaten by a whale, Break had said when they met the second time. Lucius looks at Alice with curiosity.

"Were you one of the ones who got stuck inside a whale?"

That would make one rather sick of anything to do with fish.

Which is an understatement, but exactly how else can you react to someone living inside a whale for who knows how long?

The most important part, he thinks, is that they somehow managed to escape. "How did you get out?"

It is, indeed, the practicalities he's concerned with. It's certainly possible that one way or another he'll end up back in the ocean, and who knows what might happen after that.

It's not easy to gross Lucius out. He's spent far too much of his life mucking out stables and clearing away trash for much to phase him. So he's not grossed out, but he can imagine pretty vividly how unpleasant it would have been for things to cling, and how awful the smell must have been. "Ugh."

It's about as sympathetic as an expression of distaste can be. But being him, he follows up with "You really couldn't make a ladder or something like that?"

He is actually surprised enough that he doesn't laugh at her (yet). Instead, he simply appears confounded.

"...yes? You had wood, right?"

As far as Lucius is concerned, this is a completely standard word, so Alice is saved any disapproval of her new choices in language.

She is not, however, spared laughter. He can't hold it back now.

When he can breathe again, he offers "Digging was probably more foolproof." It probably was! Climbing inside a living thing had to be risky. But they found a ship and didn't even think to try- oh this is hilarious.

Diplomacy once more saves the day, keeping him from pointing out that in this case she was the fool. Truly, a heroic effort for the sake of peace.

"So for today's foolproof plan, shall we head north?"

Well, how else would it work, really? It's a less embarrassing and likely more comfortable way to travel than being thrown over a shoulder.

Lucius holds up a hand theatrically. "I promise."